UC College of Allied Health Sciences receives Insight into Diversity 2022 Health Professions Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) Award

The University of Cincinnati (UC) College of Allied Health Sciences (CAHS) is the recipient of the 2022 Health Professions Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) Award from INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine, the oldest and largest diversity-focused publication in higher education. As a recipient of the annual Health Professions HEED Award — a national honor recognizing U.S. health colleges and universities that demonstrate an outstanding commitment to diversity and inclusion —UC CAHS will be featured, along with 64 other recipients, in the December 2022 issue of INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine. This is the 4th year in a row that UC CAHS has been named as a Health Professions HEED Award recipient.

This award comes after a new and expanded CAHS DEI team has taken over the college’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion efforts after Monica Wilkins retirement. 

“CAHS is so excited to receive the HEED award for the fourth year in a row. CAHS is  committed tp providing a culture of inclusion and belonging for faculty, staff, and students,” says assistant dean of Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion, Ebony Speakes-Hall, PhD, L-ISW. Speakes-Hall is a former faculty member in the School of Social Work and was named assistant dean at the start of the fall semester. 

Larisa Wright, M.Ed, is the college’s new Assistant Director of Diversity Equity and Inclusion. She started with CAHS earlier this summer. "As a new member of the DEI team, receiving the HEED award encourages me in our efforts to promote diversity, equity and inclusion in our CAHS community," says Wright. 

The HEED award is a testament to the work CAHS has accomplished over the past year to make curricular improvements related to DEI topics, provide student support programs, and ensure faculty and staff have training and engagement activities. 

“The Health Professions HEED Award process consists of a comprehensive and rigorous application that includes questions relating to the recruitment and retention of students and employees — and best practices for both — continued leadership support for diversity, and other aspects of campus diversity and inclusion,” said Lenore Pearlstein, publisher of INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine. “We take a detailed approach to reviewing each application in deciding who will be named a Health Professions HEED Award recipient. Our standards are high, and we look for schools where diversity and inclusion are woven into the work being done every day across their campus.”